Habakkuk 1

1 The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see.

The oracle of which Habakkuk the prophet, had vision:

2 O LORD, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear! even cry out unto you of violence, and you will not save!

How long, O Yahweh, have I called out, and thou wouldst not hear me? Have I kept crying unto thee of violence, and thou wouldst not save?

3 Why do you show me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention.

Wherefore shouldst thou let me see iniquity, and, wrong, shouldst let me behold, and, force and violence, be straight before me, —and there should have ever been someone who, contention and strife, would uphold?

4 Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment does never go forth: for the wicked does compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceeds.

For which cause, benumbed is the law, and there is never any going forth of justice, —for, the lawless, doth circumvent the righteous, for which cause, justice doth go forth perverted?

5 Behold all of you among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvelously: for I will work a work in your days which all of you will not believe, though it be told you.

Behold ye, among the nations, and look around, Yea stand stock still—stare, —for, a work, is being wrought in your days, ye will not believe, when it is recounted.

6 For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not their's.

For, behold me! raising up the Chaldeans, the bitter and headlong nation, —that marcheth to the breadths of the earth, to take possession of habitations, not his.

7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves.

Awful and fearful, is he, —from himself, his decision and his uprising, proceed.

8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as the eagle that hastes to eat.

Then, swifter than leopards, are his horses, and, more sharply they attack, than evening wolves, and forward have leapt his chargers, —Yea, his chargers, from afar, will come in, they will fly as an eagle hath hastened to devour.

9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.

Solely for violence, will he come, the intent of their faces, is—To the east! And he hath gathered, as the sand, a captive host;

10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall heap dust, and take it.

And, he, over kings, will make merry, and, nobles, will be a scorn to him: he, at any fortress, will laugh, once he hath heaped up dust, he hath captured it!

11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend, imputing this his power unto his god.

Then, hath he become arrogant in spirit, and hath committed excess, and so is guilty, —this his violence, is due to his god.

12 Are you not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, you have ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, you have established them for correction.

Art not, thou, from of old, O Yahweh, my God, my Holy One? Thou diest not! O Yahweh, to judgment, hast thou appointed him, and, O Rock, to correction, hast thou devoted him:

13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and can not look on iniquity: wherefore look you upon them that deal treacherously, and hold your tongue when the wicked devours the man that is more righteous than he?

[Thou] whose eyes are too pure to look with approval on wrong, to respect oppression, canst not endure, —Wherefore, shouldst thou respect the treacherous? Be silent, when the lawless, swalloweth up, one more righteous than he?

14 And make men as the fishes of the sea, as the creeping things, that have no ruler over them?

So wouldst thou have made Men, like the fishes of the sea, —like the creeping thing that hath no ruler over it:

15 They take up all of them with the angle, they catch them in their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are glad.

All of which, with a hook, one bringeth up, raketh together with his drag, and hath gathered with his net, —

16 Therefore they sacrifice unto their net, and burn incense unto their drag; because by them their portion is fat, and their food abundant.

On which account, he is glad and exulteth: on which account, he sacrificeth to his Net, and burneth incense to his Drag; because, thereby, rich, is his portion, and his food—fatness!

17 Shall they therefore empty their net, and not spare continually to slay the nations?

Shall he, on this account, empty his net? And, the continual slaying of nations, deem to be no pity?